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There are always surprises in sports, and Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked woman in the world in tennis, was eliminated from the current Italian Open.

In the quarterfinals, Chinese eighth seed Zheng Qinwen defeated Madrid Open champion Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3.

Alcaraz, the third seed, secured a last-four meeting with the guy he defeated in Monte Carlo last month by putting up what he described as one of his greatest performances of the season.

In addition to advancing to number two in the global rankings behind Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard’s thrilling victory against Draper maintained his hopes of winning a third championship this season.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who is vying for his first Rome title, said, “I lost focus a little bit in the second set, but it wasn’t for too long, so it was pretty good.”

“I think it was one of my most comprehensive games this year.”

Current world number two and reigning champion Zverev lost both his Rome title and his ranking in the day’s last match, losing to local favorite Musetti 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

Zverev broke Musetti at 5-5 and led on his subsequent service game 40-0, seemingly securing the first set after exchanged breaks earlier in the match.

In front of a boisterous center court, however, the Italian miraculously saved four set points to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-1.

Zverev remained composed on the court until 4-4, despite an argument with the umpire in the second set.

Before a spectacular backhand winner in the ninth game offered Musetti break point, which he duly converted before holding to 30 to reach his third clay-court semifinal of the year, the German had seemed to have the best chance of breaking through.

“Even though it wasn’t an easy start, I felt the energy and adrenaline from the first point, but I managed to come back and find a way, and that’s the key to this match,” Musetti said.

The world number seven defeated Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-4 to go to the quarterfinals, where he will play the top seed on Thursday, posing a Sinner-shaped challenge to Ruud’s hopes of a Madrid and Rome double.

Sabalenka astonished

At the Foro Italico, Sabalenka’s incredible clay-court form failed her, as she lost to Olympic gold champion Zheng in straight sets.

The world number eight finally defeated her Belarusian opponent with a self-assured performance in Rome, making it her seventh consecutive victory.

Zheng broke Sabalenka to take a 3-2 lead in the opening set before serving out after fending off early pressure on her own serve.

Then, in the second frame, Zheng jumped up a break in Sabalenka’s opening serve game.

In the sixth and seventh games of the set, Sabalenka showed tenacity by making gritted holds, but she was unable to penetrate Zheng’s serve as the 22-year-old easily advanced to the semifinals.

After clinching her first semi-final appearance of the season, Zheng told Sky Sports, “I haven’t made it to the semi-finals in a long time.”

“I had some arm issues at the start of the year, so it was difficult for me.

“So I’m just trying to play better tennis all the time and I’m in perfect shape right now.”

After Coco Gauff defeated Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), Zheng will face the American in the round of four.

Gauff’s strong performances in Rome, where she defeated seventh seed Andreeva, have assured her a spot at number two in the women’s world rankings.

Gauff, a former US Open champion, said that she was “very confident” going into the last four, where she would play a player against whom she has a 2-0 record.

After losing to Sabalenka in the Madrid final, Gauff, 21, is aiming for her first championship of the year before Roland Garros.